This invention relates generally to pulse generation and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for generating pulse waveforms utilizing inexpensive, lightweight and expendable devices.
Inexpensive pulser transformers are required in a variety of applications, some of which are used by the military. Such military applications include remotely piloted vehicle and laser target designations which require a short-term, high energy pulse which is reproducible at a relatively high repetition rate.
Most of the existing devices of this type have operated on the principle of vector inversion such as that described in an article entitled "Novel Principle of Transient High Voltage Generation", by R. A. Fitch et al. (Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers; Volume III, No. 4; April, 1964; pp. 849-855) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,015, entitled "Pulse Generator", issued to R. A. Fitch et al. on Nov. 29, 1966.
The prevailing designs for such devices have used either the pulse stacked stripline transformer or transformers having lumped inductors magnetically coupled on a core. In either case, a highly specialized construction is required which both reduces flexibility and increases manufacturing costs.
With applications for such transformers becoming more numerous, the primary concerns regarding these devices involve portability, low cost and design flexibility. The expense factor is of particular importance in military uses since a large number of applications are self-destructing with the first use. Other concerns are small overall physical size, low weight, ruggedness and electrical adaptability for high voltage multiplication for various loading impedances.